


According to plan

by Poteto



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternative title: Nik tries very hard not to adopt Laurent but adopts Laurent anyway, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, M/M, Workaholic Nikandros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-27 04:26:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9963695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poteto/pseuds/Poteto
Summary: Nikandros tries hard to build a happy, safe life for himself: he works hard, takes care of those around him, always the reliable friend. Eventually he learns that some things just can't be perfect - but they are good nonetheless.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [seasonschange](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasonschange/gifts).



> Happy birthday, Rumy!! This was supposed to be a quick, sweet Jord/Nik thing, but I got carried away and added too much Nik&Laurent friendship and a lil Nicaise-is-the-death-of-the-regent subplot whoops I hope you don't mind.  
> I had way too much fun writing this, so Ireally hope it's at least half as fun to read!  
> Fair warning: English is not my first language!!

Nikandros likes to think of himself as a very reasonable person. Patient and rational, he has always been known for being a reliable friend and someone who almost never loses his cool. He prides himself in that, especially because he cares deeply about his friends and he likes to be given that amount of trust. There are very few things that make Nikandros genuinely upset.

His best friend’s boyfriend is the one thing that never fails to irritate him.

When he enters the apartment he shares with Damen, the last thing Nikandros wants to see is Laurent de Vere and yet…

“Hey, Nik,” Damen says, smiling brightly from the couch.

By his side, Laurent is curled up in a tight ball, both his arms looped around Damen’s waist, and he acknowledges Nikandros’ arrival with a discreet nod of his head. It’s hard to hate Laurent when his mouth is shut, but Nikandros manages to do it anyway. Even if just a bit.

Laurent seems unfazed by the way Nikandros glares at him. Damen, on the other hand, cocks an eyebrow up and asks, “Everything all right?”

Nikandros grumbles something about his work and makes his way to the kitchen without giving any further explanation. His day was already shitty before he went into his own home and found that albino python wrapped around his best friend. Between his insufferable boss, his useless co-workers and that son of a bitch on Starbucks that accidentally dropped his coffee right on Nikandros’ lap… Well, Laurent’s presence is just the icing to the cake. It’s not worth it to take the stress of the day on Laurent.

(Especially because Laurent is actually the blond version of Cthulhu and he’s undefeatable. No one wins against Laurent.)

He starts fixing himself a cup of coffee, relishing on the fact that it’s finally Friday and he has the rest of the day off.

Before the coffee is ready, he’s already sick of his own poor attempt at being positive, because his brain has already started to make a list of the errands he needs to run before monday.

The decision of getting his own place (with Damen) after graduation was his own and he promised himself he wouldn’t regret it. Especially when Damen’s father so kindly offered him a job. He didn’t think the internship would turn him into a grouchy old man when he was just 25, though.

He’s making a list on his mind of all the things he needs to do today, but doesn’t go as far as task 3 before he realizes that he can’t find sugar anywhere.

 _Laurent_ , Nikandros thinks with annoyance. He heads to the living room to tell that piece of shit that, if he’s going to keep moving things around and leaving stuff out of place, he might as well move in with Damen and give his big, fancy apartment to Nikandros instead.

He expects to find Laurent and Damen doing something gross like whispering to each other or playing with each other’s hair, but he finds Laurent on his feet with a phone pressed to his cheek, his expression horrified. Damen is staring at him worriedly.

“You did _what_?” Laurent barks at the phone.

Nikandros swallow his complaints and leans against the doorframe to watch with curiosity. He had never seen Laurent losing his cool like that before. Only then Nikandros notices that Laurent’s cheek - the one he was pressing against Damen’s chest as if to hide it - is red and swollen. Someone has punched Laurent.

That shouldn’t surprise Nikandros, after all even Damen has admitted once that Laurent can be very punchable when he tries. But Nikandros has seen Laurent fighting before and he finds it hard to believe that someone managed to land a hit on him.

Nikandros knows better than to ask about it, especially because he doesn’t need to. Laurent is wearing one of Damen’s sweaters and only wears Damen’s clothes when he’s extremely upset. If whatever happened that lead to that punch was bad enough to sadden Laurent Ice King de Vere, Nikandros doesn’t want to meddle. He happily lets Damen deal with his boyfriend’s drama.

“You- God damn it, Nicaise. Stay there.” Laurent waits, as if listening to something. “No! You better keep your ass where it is. I’m picking you up now.”

“What happened?” Damen asks as Laurent furiously tosses his phone on the couch and stomps towards the bedroom.

“The teachers found out about Nicaise’s pocket knife,” Laurent says.

“Why the hell does Nicaise own a pocket knife?”

“ _Because he’s a piece of shit_!”

Nikandros frowns slightly as he hears Laurent fumbling around in the bedroom and turns to Damen. “Who’s Nicaise?”

“Laurent’s son,” Damen says, grinning a little.

Nikandros gapes.

“I mean, not his son, like, _his son._ It _’s_ a boy from his neighborhood he’s known for a while,” Damen explains and shrugs. “They’re friends.”

Nikandros would tell Damen to break up with Laurent, but he’s honestly afraid of it. Every damn time Damen breaks off a relationship, he manages to find an even worse significant other. Nikandros thought that after Damen’s last ex, Jokaste, Damen would never ever find someone as catty and mean. Then Damen showed up with Laurent Jokaste 2.0 de Vere, bitchier and blonder, now with several family issues, and Damen was utterly in love, and Nikandros wept for his sanity. God knows what kind of monster Damen will fall in love with next, if he ever leaves Laurent.

“I think I’m gonna go with him.” Damen stands up and stretches his arms lazily. “I kinda miss Nicaise, even though last time we met he tried to stab me with a fork. Unless...” he stares at Nikandros by the corner of his eye. “You okay? You need me for anything?”

“I’m fine,” Nikandros says. “And I have a lot of work to do, so I would actually prefer if you and Regina George left me alone.”

Damen rolls his eyes. “It’s Friday, Nik. You should be going out or… I don’t know, you should be doing something fun.”

“Your father trusted me with this job even though I barely finished higher education. I have to repay the opportunity,” Nikandros reminds him.

“Yes, and you do. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a life. You never do anything spontaneous. You’re too uptight, man. Don’t you get bored of never doing anything different?”

“I don’t want to hear that from Mr. Stick-up-his-butt’s boyfriend.”

“Oh, trust me, Laurent does plenty of spontaneous things.” Damen chuckles in a way that makes clear that Nikandros doesn’t want any further details.

Before Nikandros can say anything in response, Laurent appears wearing his own shirt. He doesn’t stop to spare a single glance to the other men, but, on his way to the door, Laurent says in an authotitarian tone, “Damen, you’re giving me a lift.”

Rather than annoyed, Damen smiles as if Laurent’s obnoxiousness is the most endearing thing. “I sure am, babe,” he says and turns to Nikandros. “Seriously, Nik, take a break. Call Pallas or something. Go have some fun.”

Nikandros wants to flip Damen off, but he settles for ignoring him and walking to his bedroom and starting his work alone.

 _Uptight_. Nikandros scoffs. Just because Damen’s life is a mess and Laurent’s is even messier, doesn’t mean Nikandros’ is boring. He is not uptight. He’s a careful person, that’s all.

 

 

"Hey, Nikandros. You alive?”

Nikandros blinks, startled, his eyes taking a while to focus and recognize the man in front of him. Makedon, his coworker, stares at him worriedly as Nikandros looks around, trying to remember what he was doing. He’s in the break room. He’d come for a cup of coffee only, but apparently he’s dozed off on his feet in front of the coffee machine. How embarrassing.

“I’m fine,” he says.

“Right,” Makedon says, waiting until Nikandros gets out of the way so he can get coffee himself.

Nikandros feels the urge to justify himself, but forces his mouth to stay shut. He knows  he’s in the wrong regardless of having pulled an all nighter on the night before. It was his own fault for not organizing his schedule properly. Technically speaking, he’s Makedon superior, even though he’s younger, so it’s not like he _needs_ to explain anything.

The other man wouldn’t appreciate the excuses anyway. At first, Makedon was very wary of Nikandros, not trusting someone that young that got the job because of family connections, but he’s warmed up to Nikandros after seeing how hard working Nikandros is. Nikandros respects Makedon very much and he would hate to ruin the good impression he worked hard for.

“Where’s Damianos?” Makedon asks.

“Home, maybe?” Nikandros shrugs. “Today’s his day off.”

Makedon hums thoughtfully. “And when was the last time you took a day off, boy?”

Nikandros frowns, taken aback by the sudden question. “I’m… not sure…? It’s not like I can right now. With the new partnership with the De Veres we have a lot to do and…”

“ _Damianos_ took his day off and he's going to own this place real soon,” Makedon cuts him off. “If Damianos can afford to take a break, you _should_ take one too.”

Nikandros pulls a face and says nothing. Makedon shakes his head.

“You’re too uptight, kid. You’re going to work yourself to death.” And he turns around and walks away, leaving Nikandros alone with his now cold coffee.

It was the second time in less than a week that someone would say that to him. Nikandros had told himself that he would not dwell on Damen’s worried words from before. What does Damen know, after all? He’s been an impulsive brat all his life. Nikandros loves Damen like a brother, of course, and he knows better than anyone else that Damen always means well, but he also knows that, more often than not, Damen doesn’t make the wisest choices. And it’s not like Nikandros never listens to Damen’s advice, but that particular one seems absurd.

He knows he shouldn’t listen to Damen’s advice on responsibility. But Damen’s words stick with him and he remembers them in the most inconvenient moments.

On that week, Laurent spends more time at their apartment than at his own. Almost everyday, Nikandros walks in his own home to find Laurent in their living room, doing his homework - because Laurent is still a University student - or absently watching bad movies with Damen or shamelessly cooking in their kitchen while Damen is busy with his own work. And that’s when Nikandros starts noticing how absurdly happy Damen and Laurent look.

It just makes him think.

Don’t get him wrong, he’s not _jealous_. If anything, it takes away a heavy weight from his shoulders to know his best friend is doing well and that, despite being a prick to everyone else, Laurent is taking good care of him. It’s just that he was raised to believe that, if you gave in to your impulses rather than sticking to your duty only, you would end up dating satan in a blond wig and rescuing delinquent foster sons with pocket knives and you would be unhappy.

But one day he walks in on Damen and Laurent lying together on the couch and whispering to each other. Damen is the one talking. Laurent runs his fingers through Damen’s hair, his sharp blue eyes softened with can only be described as adoration, as he listens intently. Both of them have identical relaxed smiles on their faces, so focused on each other, they don’t notice Nikandros on the doorway. He smiles to himself and heads silently to his own room without bothering them. Only when he walks past the bathroom he notices that whatever that is on his face… is the complete opposite of what he’s seen on Damen’s.

It’s odd. He _should_ be happy. He has everything he ever wanted. The job of his dreams, a nice apartment downtown, his best friend is happy and he… is tired. So very tired. Nikandros glares at his own reflection. He has always thought that the secret for happiness was to have things together. But then he looks at Damen, who’s fighting with all he got to earn a place in his family, despite his older brother's constant attempts to stop him. And then at Laurent, who supposedly is to inherit a giant commercial empire once he graduates and is fighting a cold war against his only relatives (Nikandros doesn’t know the details, though) and who apparently has adopted a child delinquent as his son. Their life is a mess and yet…

 _Uptight_ , Damen had called him and Makedon had agreed. _Someone who needs to get a life._

Nikandros isn't sure how, though.

 

 

It happens in the middle of the night. Loud buzzing startles him awake and Nikandros sits up so fast he gets dizzy. He would fall back asleep away if his neck wasn’t  hurting so much. Groaning, Nikandros realizes he had fallen asleep in the living room. Sleeping on the couch was not his wisest move, he thinks as he tries to stretch his sore back. He palms around looking for his phone, wondering who the hell would be calling him at ass o’clock.

He doesn’t bother checking the name on the screen before he picks up with a grunt.

“ _Hey… it’s me…”_ a slurred unfamiliar voice answers.

Nikandros frowns and makes another noise, this time a confused one. The person on the other side of the phone doesn’t seem to understand the implied question in Nikandros’ grunt, because he simply keeps talking without explaining.

“You’re right... You were right about everything… I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, I… I was such an _ass_.”

The edge on the stranger’s voice makes Nikandros sit up, worried. Whoever is the person talking to him, they’re obviously not okay and maybe a little drunk. Nikandros pulls the phone away to look at the little screen. The caller ID says “Jord”.

Who the fuck is Jord and why does Nikandros have his number?

He presses the phone against his ear again on time to hear Jord slurring, “...I broke up with him and I’m so sorry, Laurent. Please, forgive me. Please, Laurent, I’m sorry I was so… so… ugh.”

Nikandros tenses up. Finally his eyes get used to the darkness and he spots his phone on the coffee table. The phone he’s picked up is Laurent’s, presumably forgotten on the couch earlier while Damen and Laurent were there. Fuck.

Nikandros doesn’t need to think hard to come to a conclusion: drunk call begging for forgiveness in the middle of the night? Of course there is only one explanation. Laurent might be an ass, but he does have the right looks to have an army of regretful ex boyfriends _and_ girlfriends unhappy about letting him go.

“Who is this?” Nikandros asks.

There is a pause. “Who’s _this_?” Jord asks back, sounding suddenly more sober. “Why do you have Laurent’s phone?”

The protective edge on his voice annoys Nikandros. He’ll have a little talk with Laurent about dealing with his former boyfriends and making clear that he’s with Damen now. (Nikandros’ rational side is very aware that Laurent doesn’t look like the type that would cheat, but Jokaste didn’t look like a cheater either and yet…)

“Why are you calling a taken man in the middle of the night?”

Another pause. Then, weaker, “Damen? Shoot, sorry. I didn’t mean to… it’s me, Jord.”

Nikandros frowns, trying to process the new information. So the guy knows Damen? He makes it sound like they’re friends or something similar.

The man named Jord interprets Nikandros’ prolonged silence in the way he can and quickly adds, “Right, you’re mad at me too, aren’t you? I shouldn’t have punched him, I know,and I’m sorry about that, too.”

And the plot thickens. Despite himself, Nikandros is curious and he wants to let the guy keep talking, but he feels like he’s taking advantage of a drunken person. Besides, if his curiosity got too much, he could simply ask Damen about who punched Laurent. That would break their previous deal of leaving Nikandros out of Laurent’s dramas, but he doubted Damen wouldn’t tell him everything if he asked. Regardless, he won’t let this poor fool humiliate himself any further.

“I’m not Damen,” Nikandros says, finally. “I’m Damen’s roommate. Sorry. I didn’t mean to pick up Laurent’s phone, I think he left here with my stuff.”

More stunned silence. “...Oh,” Jord says, probably because he doesn’t know what else to say

“I’m sorry,” Nikandros repeats and, on an attempt to lighten the mood, he adds, “I don’t know the details, but are you out of your mind?”

“What?”

“Did you seriously call Laurent to tell him he’s right? Dude, it’s Laurent. He _knows_ he’s right about whatever. Are you seriously trying to get his head any bigger than it already is?”

Jord lets out a startled laughter. “Well… Usually I take his side, because I know that. This time I didn’t, so it’s only fair I admit it. Especially because I did hit him.”

“Dude. No. I think even Damen hit Laurent at some point and Damen’s patience is endless. Everytime Laurent opens his mouth, I hold my breath in fear someone will deck him. I’m sure it was understandable.”

“Yeah, well… I should still apologize.”

“Do you want me to wake him up so you can talk to him? I could… no, wait. Forget I offered that. I only did because nothing would make me happier than bugging Laurent in the middle of the night, but he’s in Damen’s room and I do not want to find out they sleep naked.”

“God, no,” Jord snorts and Nikandros imagines him making a disgusted face, even though he doesn’t know what he looks like. “It’s bad enough to see them cuddling all the time in clothes. Besides, this was humiliating enough as it is. Laurent is already going to judge me, I don’t need him to know I apologized to a stranger.”

“Very well. Your secret's safe with me. Consider this as thanks for punching Laurent.”

“Well…” He sounds mortified again. Nikandros thinks that, despite the jokes before, Jord isn’t that proud that he hit a friend. Nikandros guesses he understands. He’s wanted to strangle Damen more times than he can count, but he thinks he would feel awful if he really did. Probably. “Sorry again, Damen’s roommate.”

Nikandros opens his mouth again but he stops before any sounds comes out, unsure of what to say. Should he say his name? That would be very pointless, wouldn’t it? Why would he try to befriend to one of Laurent’s friends when he swore to himself he wouldn’t get involved with Laurent’s problems?

When Damen was dating Jokaste, he got himself in all sort of trouble by helping Damen to help her and avoid the shenanigans her smart mouth got her into. When Damen came home announcing that Laurent was the love of his life, Nikandros made him promise that Nikandros wouldn’t hear or get caught on Laurent’s shit. He didn’t know much about Laurent, but he did know the De Vere family had a reputation. He felt bad about leaving Damen dealing with that shit alone, but Damen is a grown up  and Nikandros needs to take care of his own sanity.

Before he changes his mind, a beep informs him that Jord has hung up. Nikandros stares silently at the black screen, telling himself that there is no reason to dwell on it. This Jord guy is a stranger - a stranger in the middle of a mess Nikandros wants no business with - and, even though he felt some sort of empathy, there is no reason to keep in touch with him.

 

 

On the following week, Nikandros forgets about Jord. There is a problem in his department - some of his colleagues are not getting along and they aren’t satisfied with the decisions taken by the council. Nikandros finds himself playing mediator more often than he would like to. Begrudgingly, sometimes he calls Laurent for advice. Laurent is supposed to take over once he’s old enough and his uncle, the current CEO, steps down, so it’s only fair he learns a little bit about what’s happening in his future firm and with its business partner, which is where Nikandros works. Laurent is surprisingly helpful and he doesn’t gloat or act scornful, so Nikandros puts aside his personal feelings for the sake of his work. Damen doesn’t say anything, but he beams with something like pride whenever Nikandros and Laurent sit down together to talk.

Laurent is almost always in their home still, but Nikandros doesn’t think much of it. It doesn’t matter when he’s hardly ever home, anyway, and, when he is, Laurent’s presence is useful. He really doesn’t think about it, until he gets home and accidentally hears a conversation from the kitchen.

Nikandros doesn’t mean to eavesdrop, especially because he has nothing to do with Laurent and Damen’s private conversations, but he freezes on his track when he hears Damen’s voice softly saying:

“I know you miss Jord, Laurent.”

“Like hell I do.” Laurent replies bitterly.

“Don’t be unreasonable. Call him.”

“No. I did what I could, I told him the truth and now he can do whatever he wants with it. There is nothing else for me in it.”

“What about his friendship?”

“Damen, we both know that Jord and I are not friends. Jord endures me out of respect for the memory of my brother.”

Nikandros’ mouth hangs open. He remembers Jord’s voice on the phone, genuinely distressed and begging for forgiveness. No one would talk like that to someone they didn’t care about, would they?

Besides… This is Laurent. Isn’t he supposed to be aware of how everyone throws themselves at his feet? Since when Laurent sounds so insecure? So… lonely?

 _It’s none of my business,_ Nikandros thinks, hurrying to his room without listening to Damen’s response.

 

 

Nikandros walks to work everyday. He and Damen got an apartment near the firm so they wouldn’t have to spend too much money on gasoline. Both of them enjoy the short walk. On that particular Monday, Nikandros decides to take the longest way and go through a family park. For whatever reason, the conversation he heard between Laurent and Damen on the last night had disturbed him enough that he had difficulty falling asleep. When he woke up, grumpy and restless, he found out only a note from Damen saying that he had left early for work.

Nikandros wasn’t late, of course, but his little detour meant he was going to arrive right on time. He can’t help but to think this is the most irresponsible thing he’s done in months - maybe years - and he feels pathetic. Maybe Damen _was_ right about Nikandros being too uptight. Nikandros never thought he’d see the day in which he would both agree with Damen and think that responsibility is a bad thing.

Then he spots a familiar face and frowns. Pallas, an underclassman that Nikandros hasn’t seen since graduation, though kept in touch through a text every now and then, is crouching behind a slider holding an oversized water gun. Behind him, a red headed man with several water balloons hanging from his belt tries to see something on the other side of the park. Pallas is shirtless.

“What are you doing?” Nikandros asks.

The two men jump, and point their weapons to Nikandros. Redhead stops before he throws a water balloon when he sees who is talking to them and Pallas points his water gun to the floor.

“Jesus, Nikandros,” Pallas says, “you don’t sneak up to a man like that in the middle of a war.”

“A war,” Nikandros echoes.

“Yeah.” Pallas smiles and stands up. “But hey! It’s been a while, man. How come you never comes along when Damen hangs out with us? You used to be together all the time.”

“I’ve been busy with work. By the way, don’t you have classes?”

Pallas sighs. “Ah, Nik, I forgot how you can be such a wet blanket. First, this is my senior year, man. Like hell I would take a morning class. Second, we’re skipping even the afternoon classes today. Vannes asked us to help her on a little something and you don’t say no to Vannes.”

“A little something.” Nikandros gives a pointed look to his colorful water gun.

“One of our friends is on a fight with his best friend and we’re cheering him up,” redhead says. “And, by the way, I’m Lazar.”

“Right! I forgot you two haven’t met.” Pallas’ smile grows. “Nik, this is my boyfriend, Lazar. Lazar, this is Nikandros.”

Lazar grins as he shakes Nikandros’ hand. “I heard a lot about you.”

“Wanna join us?” Pallas points at a box filled to the brim with water balloons. They did not want to run out of ammo, apparently.

“Sorry, I can’t. I’m actually heading to work now.”

“Call in sick or something.” Pallas insists. “Please? There are three of them against us.”

“I can’t just skip work, Pallas!” Nikandros gasps.

Pallas looks unimpressed. “Why not? Every time Damen comes by, he says you couldn’t come because you’re working. Haven’t you earned a day off already? You’re so uptight, Nik.”

Now this is the third time in a very short interval that Nikandros is called uptight to his face. He does not appreciate that he’s being called out like that. He’s about to say something (though he’s not sure what, because he doesn’t know how to defend himself) but something interrupts him. Lazar, who was absently looking around and waiting for them to finish their conversation, suddenly tenses up and yells, “Pallas, _duck_!”

Without hesitation, both men in front of him dive to the ground. Nikandros, however, is slower to understand. He follows Lazar’s stare on time to see a brightly colored balloon rapidly flying in his general direction… seconds before it explodes right on his chest, splashing water everywhere.

“Oh my God!” a girl’s voice calls out. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!”

Three more people come running towards them. Nikandros recognizes two of them - the girl is Vannes, someone he sees often at Laurent’s elbow, and the first guy is Paschal, also someone he’s seen following Laurent around. The third person is a man Nikandros hasn’t seen before, also carrying a water gun. He has sandy blond hair, his undercut revealing a strong neck, connected to broad shoulders and… like Pallas, he’s wearing only a pair of shorts. Nikandros has a hard time taking his eyes away from the stranger’s chest.

“Hey, aren’t you Damen’s friend?” Vannes asks. “What was your name again…? Lysandro…?”

“Nikandros,” Pallas suplies.

“Right. Anyway, we’re really sorry, dude, we didn’t see you there.”

Nikandros gives her a dreadful look. “I guess I’m supposed to just go to work like this,” he hisses, his voice dripping sarcasm.

Vannes and Pallas flinch. Lazar looks away and even Pachal pulls a face. The strange blond man, on the other hand, looks horrified.

“Oh, no! Please, I live just around the corner, I can lend you some clothes!”

Nikandros raises a eyebrow at him - he doesn’t mean to be rude, but he’s in a bad mood - and he’s about to say that that won’t be necessary. He’ll just go back home and change. Maybe he’ll call his boss and warn her that he’s going to be late - she will forgive him, after all Nikandros has never been late a single time in his life - but again Damen’s voice echoes in his mind. _Uptight._ He isn’t even sure how that applies in this situation. Any normal person would be pissed off if someone threw a water balloon at them.

But Nikandros? Nope. Not Nikandros. Nikandros is super chill and he will not lose his patience over something like this.

“I would appreciate that,” he says.

“You’ll come back, right, Jay?” Vannes asks, lightly touching the blond man’s shoulder.

He smiles at her. “Sure, I’ll just grab a dry shirt for your friend and I’ll be right back. Keep going without me and don’t let these two win while I’m gone.”

“Yes, captain!” Vannes and Paschal say at the same time.

The blond man rolls his eyes and gestures to Nikandros to follow him. He stops by the seesaw, where a bunch of backpacks are piled, and reaches for a white sleeveless shirt. Even after the man pulls the shirt on, the thin fabric clings to his sweaty skin leaving very little for imagination. Nikandros might be ogling him. He almost misses his next words.

“...didn’t mean to do that.”

Nikandros blinks. It takes him a while to realize the other man is apologizing again. “Oh. I mean… I guess accidents happen. When you’re running around throwing water balloons, I mean.”

The man smiles at him again and Nikandros has trouble not staring too hard. Fortunately, it goes unnoticed, even as they cross the street and go inside a small apartment complex. He hadn’t lied about living nearby.

“From where you know Pallas?” Nikandros asks, more to break the silence than out of curiosity.

“Lazar and I had some classes together before I graduated,” he says.

They climb a short flight of stairs and stop before the first door.

“I didn’t catch your name. Vannes called you… Jay or something?”

“Oh, J, as in short of Jord.”

Nikandros blinks. “Jord… like the one that punched Laurent Jord?”

Jord drops his keys. “How the- Oh my God. You’re the guy that picked Laurent’s phone.”

Nikandros nods once. They stare at each other in terribly awkward silence for what feels like ages. A door opens in the end of the hallway and a old woman slowly makes her way towards the stairs, smiling absently at Jord as she walks past them. Jord’s tanned cheeks are dusted with pink.

“Huh… let's finish this conversation inside, shall we?”

And they go inside.

Jord is either a minimalist or too poor to own too much stuff. His apartment is small and clean, aside from a few pieces of clothing carelessly tossed on the furniture here and there. The apartment consists of a kitchen, a living room and a bedroom all easily crammed in the same space. A small door on the back presumably leads to the bathroom.

Nikandros needs desperately to break that awkward silence, which would already be a difficult task even if Jord wasn’t so unnecessarily good looking.

“So, huh, I didn’t tell Laurent you called.”

“Yeah… I figured. Thank you for that, I guess. I mean… my other friends would have. Not to pass the message, but because the idea of me calling a friend in the middle of the night to apologize is kind of hilarious. I was pretty drunk.”

 _I noticed that_ , Nikandros thinks, but doesn’t say it out loud. He doesn’t kick a man while he’s down. “I assume you didn’t talk to him yet.”

“No, I… after that call, I decided I humiliated myself enough and it was best to talk to him in person. But lately Laurent is never home.”

 _That’s because he’s basically living in my home,_ Nikandros wants to complain.

“Of course he’s not,” Nikandros rolls his eyes, “when has Laurent ever made something easy for the others? The boy is a complication by birth.”

Jord gives him a weak smile and then his gaze falls to Nikandros’ wet button shirt. “Right! Your clothes!” and he makes a beeline to the small wardrobe. “I feel so guilty. I really am sorry.”

“You weren’t the one who threw a water balloon at me.”

“No, but the whole water balloon fight thing was Vannes’ idea to cheer me up.”

Right. Jord was upset because he was fighting with Laurent. As Nikandros accepts the clean towel Jord tosses at him, he thinks of saying something about it. What is so great about Laurent? But then he thinks to himself how he would feel if he fought - seriously fought - with Damen. He decides to keep his anti-Laurentness to himself.

“That makes sense,” Nikandros nods sternly. “Nothing says ‘I love you’ to a friend like running around at 8 in the morning throwing water at each other. I think I’m feeling guilty now for being hit by Vannes’ balloon. That love was reserved for Pallas.”

Jord snorts. “You are different from what I imagined.”

A furrowed brow. “You imagined me?”

An adorable blushing face. “No! I mean, I heard about you from Laurent and Pallas and I expected you to be more… how can I put this…?”

“Uptight?” Nikandros says, his mouth twisted in annoyance.

“Hm. A little…?” Jord pulls a face as he finally finds the shirt he was looking for and he hands it to Nikandros. “They made it sound like you never joke and you’re too serious. When you were so nice to my drunk self, I assumed you had to be someone else,  instead of Damen’s scary best friend.”

“Pallas said that, huh…?”

Nikandros considers the shirt Jord gave him for a moment. Finally, he makes a decision. Putting the shirt aside carefully, Nikandros holds his hand up and pulls his phone from his pocket. Jord interprets the gesture correctly and waits, a puzzled look in his hazel eyes. After a few beeps, a familiar grumpy voice answers

“Makedon? It’s me, Nikandros. You know how I have been working even on my days off?” Nikandros waits. Makedon might be too stunned to speak, because he only makes another sound to indicate his yes. Nikandros doesn’t need anything more. “Well, something came up and I’m taking a day off today. Can you cover for me?”

For a moment, Makedon stays silent. Then he speaks again, his hoarse voice sounding amused. “Don’t tell me you finally got yourself a girlfriend, little boss?”

“Makedon.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll take care of everything in your absence, no worries.”

“Thank you,” Nikandros says and hangs up. Then he turns to Jord. “Now. What are the chances of you letting me borrow your water gun? I want to fill it with the stinkiest ink I can find and shoot Pallas in the face.”

Jord’s nonplussed look slowly turns into a grin. “Consider the water gun yours.”

 

 

Nikandros gets Jord’s number after the water/paint gun fight. This time, on his own phone. They start texting a lot.

He learns that Jord works for the De Veres as his father did before him, and that’s how Jord met Laurent’s late brother and Laurent himself. Jord likes rock songs from the 80’s and 90’s and his most prized possession is a collection of vinyl discs that he can never listen to due to not having a proper player. Jord also is a big fan of romcoms and they exchange movie recommendations under the promise of never telling others about their shared guilty pleasures.

They’re almost always busy, since apparently Jord is as much of a workaholic as Nikandros, but their schedule somehow works in a way they’re able to meet for coffee a couple of times. In these meetings, they mostly trade ridiculous stories about their friends. Nikandros openly complains about Damen’s inability of saying no to people he got overly attached to and Jord tells him all about Laurent’s habit of being unpleasant just for the heck of it.  Nikandros talks about the times in which he had to save Pallas from getting himself beaten up by bigger guys and Jord replies with several times he had to physically pick up Vannes and flee as her teasing humor got them in trouble. Nikandros learns why Nicaise is considered Laurent’s son - apparently, he’s the prettiest 14 year old of the world, like Laurent used to be, and he’s also the devil, like Laurent still is - and he’s able to vent about how much he wants to murder Damen’s older brother. Jord also wants to murder Laurent’s uncle, so he understands. When Nikandros tells everything about Jokaste, Jord sternly advises him to befriend Paschal no matter what, for he’s the only normal person in their messy group.

Jord works just a block away from Nikandros’ work. He finds himself walking home with Jord whenever their schedule allows it. He starts taking less extra work.

About a month after that historic water fight, they’re walking through the very same park when Nikandros asks, “So… are you ever gonna tell me what happen between you and Laurent?”

Jord hesitates.

“I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No, I just...” a deep sigh. “It’s fine. What happened was that Laurent dragged my ex-boyfriend into the dirt and reduced him to tears. It was… unpleasant.”

Nikandros frowns. “If he was your ex, then why…?”

“At the time, he was not an ex yet.” Jord gives him a sour smile.

“Oh,” Nikandros says. He’s still curious, but he doesn’t ask anything else, afraid of overstepping his boundaries.

In the end, it was a needless worry. Jord looks ahead and willingly explains, “I mean… I’m not sure if I should call him a _boyfriend_. We just… hooked up a couple of times. I met him because of Laurent. He’s my boss’ son, so usually he wouldn’t be hanging out with commoners like me. But Laurent will be my boss’ boss when he take over his rightful place, so of course Aimeric was trying to get along with him. What I didn’t realize was that he was willing to do anything to reach Laurent. Including fucking his broke best friend. In every sense of the word.”

There is a pause in which Jord glances at Nikandros’ reaction by the corner of his eye. Nikandros makes sure to keep his expression neutral.

“Laurent figured it out, of course. First, he tried warning me, but I didn’t listen to him. I got mad at him. When he noticed I was way in too deep to see reason, he confronted Aimeric directly. It… was not pretty. Laurent doesn’t pull his punches. It’s difficult to side with him when he’s being cruel like that, especially when Aimeric was right there, crying and vulnerable. So I got angry and hit Laurent.”

“And Laurent didn’t hit you back?”

“Nope.” Jord lets out a small, bittersweet chuckle. “He just fixed his hair and stared at him with an eyebrow up, as if he was mildly surprised with my stupidity.”

“That sounds like Laurent,” Nikandros mumbles.

“The thing is… he was right, even though I didn't listen to him at first. I know Laurent since he was 15. I should have…” Jord shakes his head. “I should have trusted him. He was looking out for me, and I…”

“You were in love,” Nikandros says, hating the helpless look in Jord’s eyes. He’s seen the same expression on Damen’s face when he sheepishly went after Nikandros to tell him he was right about Jokaste. Nikandros sighs. “Don’t beat yourself over it. Laurent often goes out of his way to be unlikeable.”

“It wasn’t _love_. Strong infatuation, maybe. Either way, I went too far,” Jord insists. “Just because I kind of liked a cute guy I barely knew, I punched one of my best friends. I called him a cold blooded son of a bitch. I don’t know how to make up for it. He hasn’t talked to me since the fight.”

Nikandros considers that for a moment. Then he remembers the conversation he accidently heard on his kitchen.

“Just go after him and tell him you’re sorry. And make sure to demand an apology for his methods, too. Just because he was right about this Aimeric guy doesn’t mean he gets to be a dick.”

Jord looks at him for a long moment. “Sounds like you’re worried about him.”

Nikandros gasps. “I’m not! Laurent is the actual spawn of the devil and I don’t know what you or Damen see in him.”

“You like him,” Jord teases with a smile.

“Wha- No, I don’t!”

“Yes, you do. But, to be fair, everyone likes Laurent whether they want to or not.”

Nikandros opens his mouth to explain that he hates every inch of Laurent, but it’s very difficult to act on that hate when Laurent is making his best friend so stupidly happy. Instead he just makes an indignant sound. Jord smiles.

“You know what? Let’s fix this right now. This fight has lasted too long. I know where Laurent is. Do you want to talk to him?”

Jord hesitates. And then nods. Nikandros smiles.

“Good. Now follow me.”

 

Nikandros didn’t know for sure if Laurent was there, but he had a good guess. As soon as he and Jord walk inside, they hear a familiar voice from the living room going, “For the last time, Damen, Fergalicious is _not_ a word!”

“Oh, and now there’s that,” Damen says, unaware that they have public now. “When you want to use your latin made up words is fine, but when I use a neologism…”

“Those words weren’t latin, you… Damianos, if you finish that word, I’m going to shove my foot so far up your ass you’re going to taste it.”

Jord snorts and murmurs, “I forgot how articulate Laurent is.”

“Lucky you,” Nikandros says. “He’s been on a mood since you two fought. This house has not been kid friendly lately.”

They stand there, listening to Damen and Laurent fight until something crashes. Everything is silent for a couple of seconds. Then Laurent says, “Nikandros did that.”

“It was your elbow, love! You can’t blame Nikandros  for things when he’s not home!”

“Don’t call me ‘love’ when we’re fighting!”

Nikandros turns to Jord and grabs him by the shoulders. “Seriously. I’m begging you to make up with him. Take him away. Or come here and suffer with me, because I had to deal with those two alone for weeks and it was _not fun_.”

Jord grins. Together, they walk into the living room and find Laurent either trying to smother Damen with a cushion or about to start a sloppy make out session on the couch. It'/ always hard to tell with those two. A game of Scrabble is forgotten on the coffee table. Nikandros loudly clears his throat before he witness something he will not be able to forget while he’s alive.

Damen and Laurent don’t seem bothered by the interruption, until Laurent sets his stare on Jord and his icy blue eyes become dangerously cold. A few weeks ago, Nikandros would be deeply offended by that glare and wouldn’t hesitate to try to defend Jord. Now, he knows enough about Laurent. He knows that the threatening look is Laurent’s only way of defending himself. The kid has some issues.

Luckily for him, Jord knows that too.

“Laurent. I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

Laurent stands up and measure Jord for the longest of the seconds, before silently gesturing to the kitchen. Then he whips around and makes his way there, without checking if Jord got the message. Jord glances at Nikandros and Nikandros squeezes his shoulder in encouragement before he follows Laurent.

“Holy shit, finally,” Damen mutters. “I thought Laurent was going to avoid him forever and he was never going to reach out.” Then he turns his eyes to Nikandros. “By the way… since when you know Jord?”

Nikandros looks at him, considering for a while. And he decides to punish Damen for the months of TMI about Laurent with complete silence about Jord. He shrugs silently and heads to his room.

 

Somehow, on that night, the four of them end up drunk and watching a movie about a lady that falls in love with the guy whose marriage she’s supposed to be planning. They take a shot every time something corny happens. Laurent refuses to play the drinking game, which is good, because he can’t hold his liquor and he would probably die of alcohol poisoning. Before the end of the movie, Damen proposes to Laurent about five times (Nikandros isn’t sure if the fifth one was a proposal or just a very enthusiastic love confession) and Laurent pets his hair and says ‘yes, but later’ every time. Jord snorts as if he finds it hilarious while Nikandros feel like throwing up, because there is a big chance that they mean it.

When they start a second movie - another straight romcom about weddings - Laurent excuses himself to answer the phone and he spends half an hour in the kitchen talking to Nicaise. Despite their drunkenness, Damen and Jord seem worried for some reason. Nikandros reminds himself of his promise of never getting involved in Laurent’s drama and refuses to ask what’s going on. He also refused to fuss when Laurent comes back looking tired and immediately falls into Damen’s arms for comfort.

(Nikandros is _not_ worried about Laurent.)

By the end of the third movie, Damen is already snoring on the couch, taking most of the space. Laurent is curled up on his chest like a cat, unfazed by the noise Damen is making and soundly asleep.

Nikandros and Jord have been sitting together on the floor for the past two hours, but at some point Jord decided to lie down and use Nikandros’ thigh as a pillow. He doesn’t seem bothered by the hardness of muscle and keeps giggling at stupid things on screen. Jord is serious and stern all the time, but apparently he finds things much funnier when he’s drunk. Nikandros appreciates his usually austere demeanor, but laughing absently like this Jord looks unfairly cute. Nikandros has to fight the urge to run his fingers through the strands of blond hair.

“This is the worst,” Nikandros says as they watch the guy leaving his fiancee for the main character. “I’m glad I’m never getting married.”

“Why not?” Jord looks up.

“No one would marry me.”

“Aw, I would marry you, Nik.”

Nikandros stares at him. It’s difficult to focus on his face, though, because his vision keeps swimming. “No, you wouldn’t. I’m too uptight and a handful.”

“That’s okay,” Jord reaches up with a trembling hand and pats Nikandros’ cheek softly. “I have two hands.”

And then he starts laughing. Nikandros thinks he laughs too, right before he passes out with his head leaning against Damen’s side.

On the next morning, he wakes up with a very cramped neck and no memory whatsoever of their drunk movie night.

 

 

In the end, Jord and Laurent being friends again doesn’t mean Laurent going back to his own home. It does mean that Jord drops by almost as often, though, so Nikandros doesn’t complain anymore. Damen is happier than ever, partially because Laurent is happy again (he shows it by being slightly less snarky than usual and curving his lips up at least twice a day) and partly because Jord defends Damen when Laurent and Nikandros gang up to call him out on his stupidity.

Before Jord, Nikandros often found himself third-wheeling for Damen and Laurent. Now on the rare occasions Laurent isn’t around - either because of something related to Nicaise or his new internship - Nikandros gets the distinct feeling that Damen is the one being the third wheel. When the four of them are together, it feels a lot like a double date, which is ridiculous because Nikandros and Jord never did as much as hold hands.

He doesn’t know how much of this feeling is self delusion. He can’t deny his massive crush at this point, though he doesn’t admit it out loud either. (Damen keeps stealing glances at them as if he wants to ask about it, but never gets around to do it, since Nikandros never brings it up. Nikandros doesn’t know if Damen’s fidgety behavior is just his hopeful imagination working either.)

Nikandros isn’t one to hesitate. Sometimes, he finds himself unconsciously flirting. Jord is a very stern man most of the time and, though Nikandros can swear he’s flirting back, he isn’t that sure. He usually has more self confidence, but… he wonders if the whole ex-boyfriend thing isn’t too recent. Jord never brought up the Aimeric guy after that first time and he did say it wasn’t that serious. But he also fought with Laurent because of him. And he had been obviously deeply hurt by his betrayal. Nikandros really doesn’t want to fuck this up, so… he does nothing and waits for a sign.

 

 

One day, they decide to let Laurent and Damen do their thing - _even though they could totally do their thing in Laurent’s apartment, Jesus fucking Christ, does Laurent even go home anymore?_ \- and hang out in Jord’s apartment instead. It’s Saturday, which means Nikandros would usually be home getting some work done ahead, but somehow his Saturdays are slowly becoming giving-attention-to-friends time.

He realizes that it’s happening because he often finds difficult to refuse Jord’s invitations.

But, well, Jord always asks for so little and he’s taking care of everyone around him all the damn time. Nikandros has to take care of Jord, since the man himself is too busy to do it.

Pallas and Vannes drop by for lunch, but they leave as soon as the dishes are done, leaving Nikandros and Jord alone. They find their way to the small couch, wondering what they should do next and neither thinking of the possibility of Nikandros leaving so soon.

They’re almost settling for a movie when Jord’s phone buzzes. The text he receives makes him frown.

“What?” Nikandros asks.

“Nothing, it’s just…” Jord shrugs. “There is this stupid party tomorrow. All the employees are supposed to go and I just got a reminder of it.”

“I think I heard Damen say something about being Laurent’s plus one. Can’t you skip?”

Jord shakes his head. “It’s mandatory. Unfortunately.”

Nikandros snorts. Jord gapes.

“You think my discomfort is funny?”

“No.” Nikandros bites back his smile. “It’s just that it’s the first time ever I hear you complain about work and you’re complaining about the fact that there is a _party_.”

Jord shoves him, pretending to be annoyed, but Nikandros doesn’t miss the way his lips curl playfully. “I will not hear that from a guy that worked so many extra hours he could retire.”

“Like you are any different!”

Nikandros is about to shove him back, but then he notices how close they are. Jord’s couch was probably made for people smaller than both of them, because they have to sit with their thighs pressed together to fit.

Jord’s barely there smile dies slowly. Is it Nikandros’ imagination or Jord just eyed his lips for a moment?

“You know, Nik…” Jord’s voice is but a soft whisper, a little hesitating.

“Yes?”

Jord’s phone buzzes loudly again, startling both men. This time it doesn’t stop buzzing. Nikandros sees Laurent’s name on the screen.

 _Motherfucker_ \-- Nikandros leaves the apartment just for him and Damen and that’s how he repays him?

Jord gives Nikandros an apologetic look before picking up. “Hey Laurent. Huh? No, I’m home, I don’t work today.” He listens for a while. His shoulders start to get tense. “Laurent, calm down. What’s going on?” He listens for one second more before getting on his feet. “All right. I got you. I’m on my way.”

Cursing softly, Jord rushes to grab his coat.

“Jord?”

“Sorry to kick you out like this, Nik, but I have to go.”

Nikandros is already putting his shoes back on too. “It’s fine. What happened? I thought Laurent was with Damen tonight.”

“I don’t think so. I’m not sure about the details, but Laurent needs me right now, so I’m going to meet him.”

Nikandros doesn’t care about Laurent. He doesn’t care and he won’t get involved in Laurent’s issues. He won’t. But…

“I’m coming with you.”

 

 

They find Laurent alone on an alley behind the main building of his family's business. He’s leaning against a dumpster, unworried about the smell or if he’s going to get his pristine clothes dirty. He’s wearing his usual cold mask, but his jaw is clenched and his arms are crossed too tight.

“Fucking finally!” Laurent huffs.

Both Jord and Nikandros are too used to Laurent’s lack of ability to act like a human being to feel offended by that.

“What happened?” Jord asks.

“Nicaise called me. He was caught stealing something from Gouvart’s office,” Laurent says. For a moment, he looks like he’s going to throw up. “He’s now in my uncle’s office, waiting for him.”

“ _What_ ? Gouvart’s… like _the_ Gouvart? Your uncle’s righthand man? What was Nicaise doing here?”

“The opposite of what I told him to do. I told him to stay away, that I was going to take care of it, but… I tried calling him again, but he won’t pick up. I think they took away his phone.” Fear lurks its way in Laurent’s voice and he stops talking to control himself. He swallows hard and takes a deep breath before continuing. “Luckily, my uncle is out of town, but he’s coming back. They refused to call the police, but if my uncle puts his disgusting hands on Nicaise…”

Jord interrupts him, deciding he doesn’t need any further explanation. “What do you need me to do?”

“Guion is the one watching him, so he would never let me or Damen get anywhere near that office. You’re the only one I trust enough to go there and get him back.”

Laurent takes a quick glance at Nikandros, but says nothing to him. Only then Nikandros realizes how much trust he’s being given. Laurent’s self-control is in shambles. His walls are now the lowest Nikandros has ever seen.  He could have asked Nikandros to leave when they arrived, but he didn’t. Instead, he let Nikandros watch and see that the ice prince can feel like everyone else and that he has things he holds dear. It might not seem like much, but, for Laurent, it is a big step. He’s including Nikandros on the barely existent list of people he trusts. Like Jord. Like Damen.

Nikandros is surprised by how much that touches him as he watches Laurent explain his plan to Jord. He knows people like Laurent mean trouble and that befriending him would be irresponsibility.

When the hell did he start thinking of Laurent de Vere as his friend?

“All right,” Jord finally says. “Don’t worry, Nicaise is going to be fine.”

Laurent looks like the last thing he’ll do now is to stop worrying but he nods nonetheless.

Even though no one told him to, Nikandros follows Jord, but not before squeezing Laurent’s shoulder and muttering, “we’ll be right back.” The way Laurent bites his lower lip and the tight look in his blue eyes break Nikandros’ heart. He wants to kick himself, because he really cares about this asshole. And not in a you-make-my-friend-happy way, but in a you’re-part-of-my-family way. God damn it.

Nikandros and Jord walk into the building like they own the place, even though several people give them weird looks for their casual outfits. Nikandros always thought the De Vere’s employees were a bunch of snob assholes (Jord being an exception, of course. And maybe Vannes and Paschal. And maybe Pallas’s boyfriend too.  But most of them are assholes.)

“It’s all right,” Jord mumbles and Nikandros thinks he’s talking mostly to himself. “This is going to be easy. We just have to…”

“Jord?” a soft voice calls.

Jord freezes, his shoulders going stiff in a tense line. When he turns around, his hazel eyes are stone cold.

“Aimeric.”

Nikandros turns as well. A young man approaches them. He looks like he’s about Laurent’s age, something around 20 or 21. His brown, curly hair looks soft to the touch and his big blue eyes are full of an intense emotion Nikandros doesn’t want to see.

The man’s face, overall, is very pretty. Nikandros is particularly unhappy about that.

“I knew it was you.” Aimeric takes an eager step towards Jord, either not noticing or completely ignoring Nikandros. “What are you doing here?”

“I work here,” Jord says coldly.

Aimeric gives a pointed look at Jord’s hoodie. “Isn’t today your day off? Could it be that you…” Aimeric trails off, but the silent question was already heard. _Could it be that you came here to see me?_

“I’m here as a favor for Laurent,” Jord says and Aimeric flinches at that name. “He asked me to get some files for him. Can we help you with something?”

Like Nikandros, Aimeric doesn’t miss the way Jord says “we” instead of “I”. He’s pointing out that he’s not alone. Aimeric’s eyes find Nikandros’ and he furrows his brow. Nikandros slowly crosses his arms and glares back.

“Who’s your friend, Jord?” There is a new edge in Aimeric’s voice. “You shouldn’t bring outsiders here.”

“We’re not staying long. We have other plans anyway. So, if you don’t have anything else to say… come on, Nik, lets get going.”

Nikandros is more than happy to follow him. Jord walks forward, his jaw clenched. Nikandros looks back once, only to see that Aimeric has not moved from his spot, his eyes set on the men walking away from him. They turn around the corner and Aimeric disappears from their sight.

Jord doesn’t relax until they reach the elevators.

“You’re okay?” Nikandros asks.

Jord takes a deep breath. “Surprisingly… yes. Never mind him. Let's go rescue a teenager from satan’s minion number one, a.k.a. Laurent’s uncle’s personal assistant.”

Laurent’s uncle’s office is on the last floor, of course. Again they need to walk through several judging looks before entering unannounced in a small room in the end of the corridor. There is an old man in there that jumps at their arrival, but his agitation turns into disgust when he realizes they’re not his boss.

“What do you think you’re doing here, Jord?” The man asks, visibly angry. “Entering mr. De Vere’s office like this…”

“This isn’t his office,” Jord says calmly. “This is your office, sir. Mr. De Vere’s office is the one behind you, isn’t it?”

“Whatever! What do you want? And what are you thinking coming to your workplace wearing _that_? You push your luck, Jord. You think just because you’re mr. Laurent’s protegé you won’t get fired. But let me tell you…”

“Oh gee, mr. Guion, I’m here because I was asked to,” Jord interrupts, looking exasperated. “Laurent is going nuts. Apparently someone scheduled a meeting with a Charls, even though mr. De Vere isn’t here? I don’t know the details, but this Charls guy called Laurent and he’s pretty pissed off that he was left waiting.”

Nikandros has no idea who Charls is, but the color drains from Guion’s face as Jord speaks. He looks absolutely horrified.

“Our biggest… good god, where is he?”

“In the meeting room on the fifth floor? Laurent sent me here to do some damage control, but I had to check first-”

“As if I would let a nothing like you waste mr. Charls’ time! I’m going there myself. This is preposterous. Who on Earth made such a…” and his voice dies off as he walks away.

“God, what a piece of work,” Nikandros mumbles.

“Tell me about it,” Jord says and hurries towards the big doors on the back.

Laurent’s uncle office is more or less the same as Damen’s father’s, for what Nikandros remembers: a bunch of big windows, several decorative books in shelves, a big fancy computer and an enormous chair designed to be more intimidating than comfortable. Standing near the farthest window there is a pale boy.

Well, at least Nikandros assumes he’s a boy because of his worn out clothes, but his face is so beautiful it goes beyond gender. Maybe this _is_ Laurent’s son, after all. He certainly has the same supernatural beauty. His eyes are widened with panic, until he sees Jord, and then his lovely face falls slack in numbing relief.

“Nicaise,” Jord murmurs. “Come on, Laurent asked us to pick you up and there is no time.”

He doesn’t need to say it twice. Without a word of protest, the boy stumbles his way towards them. Nikandros thinks he sees tears of sheer relief pooling on the corner of Nicaise’s eyes, but he pretends not to notice anything. Instead, he lets Jord go ahead with Nicaise right behind him and he follows closely, in a way both of them shield the boy from view.

They don’t dare take the elevator, fearing to meet someone they didn’t want to meet. Though they are the only ones stupid enough to take the stairs, they can’t relax on the long way down. At some point, Nicaise mutters quietly, “Laurent… is…”

“He’s fine,” Jord reassures. “He’s worried sick about you, though. He might get super mad when he sees you.”

“No, he won’t.” Nicaise says with confidence.

After what feels like hours - has Guion come back yet? Has he noticed Nicaise’s absence? Has he sent someone to look for him? - they finally reach the first floor. Nikandros doesn’t know why the others fear Laurent’s uncle so much, but, when they finally rush outside the building, ignoring the mildly indignant glare of the receptionists, he feels like he’s just escaped hell.

They find Laurent where they left him, anxiously walking back and forth and clutching his phone against his chest. He stops when he sees them and, for once, he’s not wearing his stoic mask.

“ _Nicaise_.”

“Laurent!”

The boy stumbles and rushes towards Laurent, opening his arms as if to hug him, but he catches himself right before he does it. He stands as close as he manages without actually touching Laurent.

“You idiot,” Laurent says ruffling the boy’s hair, but there is no real bite in his voice. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? How stupid-- You just walked in there and-- Fucking insane, I thought… God, Nicaise, what did you do that for?”

Nicaise watches Laurent stumble on his words, pleased and amused, and waits until Laurent’s done before he grins. “Why, you ask, because of this.” And the boy pulls a folded envelope from his coat pocket.

Laurent goes very still. His pale face goes paperwhite and there is a long moment before he raises trembling fingers to take it from Nicaise.

“Is… is this…?” Laurent swallows. “Nicaise, is this Paschal’s brother’s letter?”

“Yup.”

Nikandros turns to look at Jord, waiting for an explanation, but Jord only shrugs in response. _I know as much as you do._

They wait patiently as Laurent composes himself, Nicaise looking very smug and Nikandros and Jord curious. It doesn’t take long before Laurent’s numb expression becomes something much more fiercer, his blue eyes glinting dangerously in wild satisfaction.

“I need to get some things done right now,” Laurent says. “Nicaise, you’re coming with me. Jord, Nikandros… _thank you_.”

“It’s nothing.” Jord nods. “Are you going to tell us what this was about?”

“Not right now. There is no time,” Laurent says, “but if you come to the party tomorrow you’ll find out. If you don’t want to come because…” Laurent points at the building behind them with his chin. Nikandros knows he means _because of Aimeric._ “I’ll tell you later.”

“I’ll come,” Jord says.

Laurent smiles at them, honest and brightly, and he looks so stunning that for a moment Nikandros forgets he’s actually several snakes in a trenchcoat. Then Laurent turns around, wrapping an arm around Nicaise’s shoulders and hurriedly walks away the two of then talking in hurried whispers.

“I can’t believe you did all of that blindly,” Nikandros mutters, shaking his head.

“You did too, though.” Jord raises an eyebrow.

“Well, I didn’t do it for Laurent.”

A scoff. “Don’t lie. You can deny all you want, but you actually like Laurent, don’t you? You consider him your friend.”

Nikandros mumbles something grumpy, but doesn’t bother denying it. Instead, he corrects himself, “Well, I didn’t do it _just_ for Laurent,” and he gives Jord a pointed look.

Is it his imagination or is Jord’s face a little flushed?

There is a beat, in which Jord looks like he’s trying to make up his mind on something, and then he blurts, “Do you wanna come with me?”

Nikandros gives him a questioning look. He could have said just _yes_ , thinking that if he followed Jord to rescue a teenager from Laurent’s sociopath uncle, it is already a given that he will follow Jord anywhere. He does need to know where they are going, though, so he waits for an explanation.

“To the party, I mean,” Jord says. “It’s usually pretty boring and there are going to be some unpleasant people like Laurent’s uncle and Aimeric, so it’s fine if you don’t want to. But there’s free drinks and whatever Laurent’s planning to do, so it ought to be different this time…?”

Nikandros’ heart skips a hopeful beat at the invitation and he actually gets his expectations up until Jord mentions Aimeric. He realizes that Jord wouldn’t want to come without a date, but he doesn’t want to invite anyone just yet - maybe because he still have feelings for that piece of shit.

Nikandros wants to kick Aimeric’s ass (both for hurting Jord and for making Jord like him. Nikandros is fucking jealous of that son of a bitch.) but, since he can’t do that now, he settles for answering Jord’s invitation.

“As your fake date? I mean… I could, of course, it’s…” But he trails off when he sees Jord’s face. “What?”

“Just how much time are you spending with Laurent?” Jord asks, brow furrowed in a pitiful expression. “Not everything is part of a scheme, Nikandros, Jesus fucking Christ.”

“What,” Nikandros repeats rather wisely.

“I’m asking you to be my date, dumbass, my _real_ date, because I like you and want to spend time with you.”

“Oh.” There is a pause. Nikandros feels his face warming up. “ _Oh_.”

Jord hesitates. “I mean, like I said, it’s going to be a boring party, so it’s fine if you don’t want to go.”

“There’s no way it’s going to be boring if you’re there with me.”

 _Nice recovery, Nikandros,_ he thinks as he watches a smile slowly lighten up Jord’s face.

“Flattery will get you nowhere, you know.”

“Oh, I know. Shit talking our best friends is what does the trick, right?”

Jord’s smile is bright and large and, unlike Laurent’s, it is not overwhelming to look at. In fact, Nikandros thinks he could stare at that smile all day and never get tired of it.

“I’ll text you the details. See you later, Nik.”

And, as though he’s feeling particularly bold, Jord leans in and plants a soft kiss on Nikandros’ cheek. The spot where his lips touch tingles.

Nikandros is a very reasonable man. Always the rational, responsible friend. As he watches Jord walking away, the tips of his ears bright pink, Nikandros smiles to himself, his chest all warm and fuzzy, and he decides that sometimes it’s okay to act spontaneously too.


End file.
